World Cup Quarterfinals: Day 1

The action today kicks off with Brazil-Holland then Ghana and Uruguay. One match could be an epic battle of skill and class, the other the whole world will be watching.I jest: of course people will be interested in Brazil-Netherlands: it could be a classic match. Brazil is awesome, they’ve won 5 World Cups: more than any other nation. And with Dunga coaching them, they’ve learned how to do it with a more workmanlike approach. There’s still some flair players and exciting off and on-the-ball runs, but, who wants them to win? Not me.

I’ll be cheering for the Dutch – the perennial bridesmaids. But I’ll also be cheering for an action-packed thrilling match, which I think is what we’ll get. It could be slower early on as each side seeks to impose themselves without giving up too much on the counterattack, but I think there should be a fast-paced second half.

But it’s really Ghana-Uruguay that’s the match to get excited about. And by that I mean it’s really Ghana that we should all be excited about. Ghana: the first African team to make a world Cup Quarterfinals are this year’s feel0-good story. Uruguay won the first world Cup, and are great and all that, but come on: first African World Cup, first African team in the quarterfinals? Who doesn’t want to see them make it to the semis?

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